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Dental Records & My Rights?

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J

JSzynskie

Guest
Dear IAAL;
I need to know if there is a legal standing
requesting copies of written Dental/Medical Records from Doctors. I work for Dr. A, who was working for Dr.X.,untill he found out about the misdealings that was going on. Long story. Dr.A opened his own office and his patients followed him over. But now, when our patients request their records, all they receive are copies of current radiographs and a paper saying when their last cleaning was. No patient history of any work that was done. Example: Crowns, Root Canals or Extractions.
Being in the Medical Field, it is nice to know the history behind the work. Dr.X has went as far as threatning to "Take it to the next level" with one of our patients that wanted a copy of their records. She owed no money, and her whole family was and still is seeing Dr.A. So my question is, does she have any legal rights to have copies of her familys records? And does Dr.X have any legal standing to refuse to give copies to patients? I know this might be a complicated matter but any advice would greatly appreciated. Thank You "Z"
 


W

whitsmom

Guest
I live in FL. I'm not a lawyer but I have been an office manager in the medical field for some time and in my experience, the INFORMATION contained in the medical records(I don't know about dental records specifically but I would think it is much the same) is that patient's property, whether they owe the doctor money or not. In my field they have the right to recieve a legible copy of the records (as the original's belong to the office) from that doctor...that doesn't include correspondence from other physicians...that has to be obtained from that other physician.

I spoke to risk management at our local hospital about this a while back about releasing records to patients who have an unpaid balance. He told me under no circumstances should we withhold the records...we could ask for a copying fee but didn't recommend it...looks kind of petty if a patient wants to change doctors, especially if there has been some personality or billing problem, and just gives them more to gripe to others about...bad PR.

Your dentist probably has an attorney or a risk management person at the hospital, if he happens to have hospital privileges, who he gets his advice from and I would recommend getting in touch with him/her to find out the specifics of the rights of patients to obtain their complete dental records, this might diffrent from medical records.

You might also contact the american dental asso. to find out.
 
W

whitsmom

Guest
Just to clarify...by "your dentist" I meant your employer...us managerial types get rather possessive of "our" doctors! :)
 

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